H ouse&Garden 
Vol. IV JULY, 1903 No. 1 
THE GARDEN AT “ FA I RAC RES ” 
JEN KIN TOWN, PENN A. 
Designed by Wilson Eyre Described by a Camera 
A T one end of the Huntingdon Valley is 
l the borough of Jenkintown, the roofs 
and spires of which have scarcely disappeared 
from view as one enters the gateway of 
“ Fairacres.” A 
long house, half 
ivy-covered, lies 
broadside to the 
road, and many 
little gables break 
into irregularity 
the long low roof- 
line. Vines have 
now gained upon 
the second storey, 
and even to the 
roof, and have 
changed the as¬ 
pect of a building 
which, twelve or 
fifteen years ago, 
was familiar to all 
who followed the 
growth of Ameri¬ 
can domestic ar¬ 
chitecture,—so in¬ 
dividual a work 
was this house 
and so determin¬ 
edly had it aroused 
contemporary de¬ 
signing from the 
lethargy into which 
it seemed to be 
drifting. Since then many more imposing 
country residences have been reared, to 
which all eyes are now turned; but “ Fair- 
acres ” has been quietly taking on that 
THE ROMAN FOUNTAIN 
charm, serene and mature, which only time 
and the deft touch ot unhindered nature 
can accomplish. 
Architecture and garden-craft have been 
wrought here con¬ 
tinuously since 
1886, when the 
house was built. 
Additions have 
been made to it 
and still other ad¬ 
ditions have been 
planned. In 1895 
the barns were 
erected, or rather, 
let us say, restored, 
for the old white¬ 
washed barn, as 
intimate a part of 
that countryside as 
its grass and trees, 
was destroyed by 
fire, and the new 
structure was 
made to reproduce 
the prototype by 
an architect to 
whose keen appre- 
ciation of local 
tradition is due 
much of his suc¬ 
cess. All of the 
work at “Fair- 
acres 
has been 
designed and carried out by Mr. Wilson 
Eyre under the most favorable conditions 
any architect can have, those of a sympa¬ 
thetic and cooperating client. 
1 
